The Maiden With Two Souls
by Wazybo
Summary: Nermina just had one job; get rid of the ogres and return to Majula. Things suddenly change when instead of a beached coffin, she finds a metal pod with girl with a scarred face inside, comatose. From then on, things take an unexpected turn.
1. Chapter 1: The sorceress & the maiden

**My first ever story, and it'll be a crossover, I hope this works out. Feel free to point out things I get wrong and any mistakes I make, but keep it to constructive criticism, and not outright hate. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither Rwby nor Dark souls, those titles belong to Roosterteeth and From Software respectively.**

Chapter one

She was tired of those damned ogres and how they mindlessly waddled after whatever creature they saw, so she killed them. It was pathetically easy, she just led them to the makeshift bridge and have them roll off, it went just as expected. What she didn't expect was to actually find something interesting on the beach the ogres seemed to guard.

It was a strange metal container washed up on the shore, she could've sworn that it was a coffin last time, but that's not what caught her attention. It was the fact that it had a window on the top, showing a brown haired girl with facial scars in her undergarments, that caught her interest. Our "hero" is named Nermina, a former sorcerer turned hexer, who still had her need to study strange things ingrained into her psyche since she left the academy.

She had left after the dark mark had branded itself onto her flesh, and after making her way through Heide she entered the Hunstman's Copse after killing the cleric, Licia of Lindelt, in a battle of miracle against sorcery, which devolved into two women trying to stab each other with daggers after neither could end the other with spells. In the Copse she met her new mentor, Felkin.

Nermina had then gone on to making her way to the Forest of Fallen Giants, new staff and clothes equipped, slaying both the Last Giant and a Pursuer, before leaving for the Lost Bastille. There she had been defeated many times by the Ruin Sentinels before progressing to the artificial gargoyles, then to the Lost Sinner.

Her battle with the Sinner was a hard one, she had summoned Lucatiel, who was defeated partway through the fight, which left Nermina to finish it with a dark enchanted sword. She was grateful that her wounds never scarred, lest she have one going across her chest and stomach. Thank the gods for estus and lifegems.

This now brings us to the present, Nermina had decided to return to Things Betwixt and finish the pathetic population of ogres. It still left the unsolved mystery of the metal coffin.

 _"Just go and look, you've got nothing better to do,"_ She thought to herself, before walking over and gazing at the container. After a moment of hesitation, she placed a hand on it.

It hissed, and then opened itself.


	2. Chapter 2: Meld

**Here is the second prologue, and honestly I'll be taking some liberties with certain things from both series, such as Estus replenishment or the powers of the maidens, I hope this doesn't throw off many people.**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither RWBY nor Dark Souls, the belong to Roosterteeth and From Software respectively.**

Chapter 2

All Amber remembered about what happened was the arrow, her anger, and the feeling of losing her powers. After that, there was only darkness and the sensation of floating, as if she were in water.

Then there was a light, shining through some strange crack in the sky.

She wanted to make a sound, to move around, but her body didn't respond, her injuries had severely crippled her. After a few minutes of listening and watching, she realised something. The energy of this world didn't feel right, it felt... tainted, like if it was infected by some plague. That exact moment is when she heard footsteps, and realised she was trapped in a pod.

 _"I wish I had a healthy body,"_ She desperately thought, _"please, if gods truly exist, take me home!"_

Her pod hissed as it opened, she then felt a gauntleted hand on her arm.

Suddenly, she felt as though she was being disassembled and put back together, the person coming with her screaming. Foreign memories flooded her mind, and she could feel herself grasping her head in agony as memories began clashing with each other before being sorted again. She felt as if she were dying, before suddenly being rejuvenated.

Amber felt the familiar energy of Remnant, _"What is Remnant? Where am I?"_ She thou-wait a moment, those weren't her thoughts, and why can't she feel anything? She still couldn't move, but her eyes opened involuntarily.

She wasn't in the pod anymore, but that's not what caught her attention. What caught Amber's attention was the feeling of armor and clothing on her person, and she didn't feel the least bit tired or weak from being comatose for so long. _"Where am I? What happened?"_ Once again, those weren't her thoughts.

A foreign thought came to the forfront of her mind.

 _"My name is Nermina."_


	3. Chapter 3: Thought process

**I've started writing this chapter as soon as I uploaded the last one, as I really don't have a set schedule for writing this story, schooling comes first after all, but I will try to keep the chapters coming as best as I can. Once again, feel free to review!**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither RWBY nor Dark Souls, they are owned by Roosterteeth and From Software respectively.**

Chapter 3

Nermina knew that nothing about her had changed physically, mentally and spiritually are an entirely different matter. It seemed that, for some damned reason, her mind had been combined with that of the scarred girl- _"My name is Amber!" -_ and there she is. Nermina's soul had initially tried to absorb Amber's, which was in the process of leaving her dying body, apparently, but the process was stopped by some strange aspect of Amber's soul, leaving them in their current state.

 _"I still don't understand the whole Curse of the Undead thing you have going for you,"_ Amber thought to Nermina _._

 _"You are a magical girl who can fly, control the weather, and is from a world where you have flying carriages, but_ _ **I'm**_ _the one who is hard to understand?!"_ Nermina shot back.

Apparently, the fact that they share a body comes with the side effect of having both of each other's knowledge and memories, leading to Amber's current question.

 _"So you don't know how it started? Or how to cure it?"_ She inquired.

 _"In the name of the Pale Drake, for the last time_ _ **no**_ _, I dont! I would've died happily by now if I did!"_ Nermina internally shouted.

 _"By the gods, you don't have to be so rude! I thought you were used to giving lectures!"_

 _"Not in my own head I'm not!"_

They seemed to be stuck in some kind of void, Nermina theorised that their body may be asleep, and that they are in some form of shared dream. Anyway, they have been stuck here for who knows how long.

 _"I hope this problem is solved soon, I don't know if I can handle being some stranger's conscience."_

 _"What makes you think I need someone to keep me in line?"_

 _"You killed a woman just because she was going to charge you for wanting to use the rotunda!"_

 _"She was a liar-"_

 _"And that's why you need me,"_ Amber finished.

Nermina replied with a sigh and just rolled with it. "I'm still in control of our body," she said aloud with a tone of finality, she didn't think that she'd ever have to deal with someone judging her actions, not that she cared, it was just a thorn in her side.

After a few minutes of silence, a strange feeling came over her body, like if you were drifting downwards underwater, and then she suddenly slammed into something, her hexer's robes doing little to soften it.

Her eyes had closed from the pain, but when she opened them she immediately stood up and drew her sword violently, cutting off the head of a strange, black furred bipedal canine that was about to stab her with its claws. The body twitched as lightning surged through it.

Amber knew this place, the trees, the scent, and the feeling of eternal autumn.

 _"Forever Fall!"_


	4. Chapter 4: Dark Blade

**Hello again, and welcome back. Now we're getting into the main storyline, and you'll see where this fits on the RWBY timeline before the chapter is over. Hope you have a nice read!**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither RWBY nor Dark Souls, they belong to Roosterteeth to From Software respectively.**

Chapter 4

They had been wandering for hours, Nermina slaying what were apparently called Beowolves and the occasional Ursa Minor, information provided by Amber, with her Heide Knight Sword. Eventually, they had come across a railroad, and while Nermina knew that tracks like these were used for minecarts, she had no idea what a train was before Amber showed her a memory and an explanation, which got her thinking about the technology difference between Remnant and Drangleic, although she hadn't seen the entirety of the old kingdom.

She wasn't convinced that her world would win, if they were to go to war with each other, she was realistic about it. The people of Remnant have an entire career based around unlocking your soul's potential, while scholars back home have trouble truly understanding what the soul exactly is, besides what powers their sorceries and pyromancies, if Nermina were to simplify their findings.

Her thought process was cut off by the sound of metal screeching, and she turned to see a train coming around a turn in the tracks. She now had a plan to get to civilization quicker, but it'll hurt like hell. She quickly cast Resplendent Life and grabbed onto a railing on the train with both arms.

The sheer force felt like it would rip her arms off, but they held, a receding glow over her body confirmed that yes, she had inherited the use of Amber's aura, although it seemed to have a darker undertone to it now. Despite the new information, she still got injured massively, but she had managed to get on the train.

 _"Are you insane!? You could've lost both your arms! We could've bled out and died!"_ Amber shouted in her head while silenlty panicking over their injuries.

They had ended up on one of the flat carts that's carrying large containers, full of dust, presumably. As one of Nermina's arms slowly healed, she brought out her Idol's chime and recited Resplendent Life's prayer, accelerating her regeneration some.

"We will... be fine!" Nermina said aloud as she tried to ignore the pain of her broken bones.

 _"We're out of aura! I can safely say that we_ _ **won't**_ _be fine if security finds us like this!"_ Amber said in a worried tone.

"You people and your reliance on aura! Back home, we either learned to fight while injured, or we died, aura has made your fighting styles more reckless!" Nermina replied, standing up once her wounds had nealy finished healing, crushing a lifegem to complete the process.

After a few minutes of wandering on the train, the door in front of her was suddenly blown open by the body of a metal golem-err android, followed by a masked man, and a young woman wearing a black bow.

 _"This... looks pretty bad,"_ Amber said as many other androids added them onto their list of intruders.

"Well..." Nermina started, her Heide Sword drawn along with a pretty inadequate wooden shield, "It could be much worse."

She stood in between a swarm of androids and a probably devastating duo, so she did something that saved her life in the past.

She cast Dark Weapon.


	5. Chapter 5: Fangs

**I don't plan on changing the RWBY canon much in the first volume, leaving the bigger changes to volumes 2 & 3, for an obvious reason *cough* Amber remembering Emerald and Mercury *cough*, also the fact that she isn't at beacon anymore, which kinda throws a wrench in Cinder's plans.**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither RWBY nor Dark Souls, they belong to Roosterteeth and From Software respectively.**

Chapter 5

After a moment of silence, the world sprang back to life.

An android ran at her, both blades drawn, and immediately got a surge of electricity as Nermina's blade pierced it's chest plate, then it was pulled out violently, it's dark enchantment causing even more damage.

 _"Wow, geisteel really is an amazing material,"_ Amber stated after observing the damage done, and not a single nick in the blade.

Nermina ignored her comment and parried another android before cutting deeply into it, by the time she looked forward again the man and girl had taken out multiple units. She took note of the fact that she would need to drastically change her fighting style and increase her agility if she were to come across enemy aura users.

Thankfully, they seemed to temporarily deem her as a potential ally. They blitzed through the enemies, occasionally leaving behind a survivor, either to slow Nermina down in case she decided to stab them in the back, get to their objective quicker, or maybe both. The only one who ever looked back at her was the girl.

Eventually, they entered a train car up ahead, with Nermina dealing with the last android. When she entered the car, she heard what she assumed to be the end of a conversation.

"What about the crew members, and that person?" The girl questioned worriedly. The man replied in a cold and uncaring voice, which Amber hated, but it reminded Nermina of some scholars she had met.

"What about them?"

Their conversation was cut short when something massive landed behind Nermina, who immediately turned around with her shield raised, taking a powerful kick from a giant four legged machine that shattered the pathetic wood. She went flying and hit the ground, rolling into the wall and hitting her head.

As she slowly got up, Nermina saw the other two engaging it in combat, faring much better than her, though didn't say much as they made a temporary retreat. This gave the machine time to form a massive cannon and charge its weapon. She quickly focused and ma naged to finish casting Magic Barrier just as it fired, sending all three fighters flying out the ruined car.

Once they all got up again, Nermina held her chime tightly as she drew up souls from the defeated Grimm, then fired a Great Resonant Soul from her chime as the machine leapt onto the cart. The Soul was different than how they usually were, it was wild and barely controlled, as if the Grimm were trying to claw their way back to life, and it was black and red, instead of black and white.

Regardless, it slammed into the machine and staggered it, carving a long gash into it's armor.

The duo seemed to have a small argument before the girl sprung into action, attacking it while the man seemed to just hold his sword and wait. Nermina, having fought beings with powerful souls, knew he was readying a powerful attack. So she began running towards the front of the train, not wanting to be there when he unleashed it.

She didn't get far before the girl had sprinted passed her onto the cart ahead and she felt a searing pain in her side, the world turning red and black for a moment.

Nermina managed to get to the cart the girl was on, chug some Estus, and pass out from the growing pain in here side.

And there they were, back in the shared dream.

At least Amber knew they would eventually arrive in Vale, and that they hadn't died.

But man, did that attack hold some power, it was enough to nearly out-damage the healing of an Estus flask. At least they have the restoration ring equipped, so they might be done healing by the time they wake up again.

"Do you have any idea of who those people are?" Nermina asked her, irritated that she had been careless and hadn't used any healing items during the fight.

"Based on the man with the mask, and the fact that we were on a Schnee Corporation train, the White Fang. The man's fighting style and appearance also shows that he might be one of the leaders, Adam Taurus." Amber said, showing her memories on the White Fang to her partner.

"Well, let's hope that we're still on the train when we wake up," Nermina said in a nonchalant tone, she then proceeded to slip into a meditative state, which calmed Amber's worries somehow, probably due to their link.

She decided to meditate too.

 **And there it is, Amber and Nermina are getting used to each other, and Nermina realizes that her fighting style would be inadequate against an aura user who knows what they're doing, so we might get a slightly slower paced version of the Hunter fighting style from Bloodborne from her later on.**

 **Anyway, I just want to say thank you for giving this story the time of day to read it, it means something to me that some people actually like it!**

 **Thank you, and see you next time!**


	6. Chapter 6: Vale

**Sorry about leaving the story untouched for a while, I had to focus on school and all that jazz. By the way, the question as to how Nermina and Amber ended up in Remnant will be answered in due time.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own either RWBY or Dark Souls, these series belong to Roosterteeth and From Software respectively.**

Chapter 6

They were floating in a void, the only light coming from a shining orb that likely represented Amber's soul. They sat across from each other. Amber still had her facial scars, even in a spectral state, but it didn't impairs her sight in the slightest as she observed her host and really took a good look at her.

Nermina was shockingly pale, she even had white hair; she could pass as a relative of the Schnee family, if not for her purple irises and slightly tanner skin from traveling. Amber couldn't remember the details of Nermina's life due to their minds being separated like normal after they melded together, but they usually voluntarily share memories while in this comforting void.

After what felt like a few more minutes, they both suddenly felt the familiar falling motion, going back to reality.

 **-Linebreak** **-**

When they woke up, they were in the dark corner of a train car, it seems that someone brought them here after they passed out. They had woken up just as the train stopped at it's destination.

"Looks like we've arrived," Nermina said aloud to Amber before walking over to a door and opening it; she was blinded by a random overhead light for a few seconds before she made her way off the train, and into the warehouses. After casting hidden body, she managed to sneak out of the district, and into the city of Vale, it was nighttime, likely around 8:00 pm.

After a little bit of wandering, they came across a store that seemed to be in the process of getting robbed, and despite Nermina's protests, she crumbled beneath the threat of a constant headache before running to the door and forcing it open.

"Who's there?!"

"Damn, its a huntress!"

She was confronted by the sight of a group of six gang members wielding swords and guns and wearing clothes consisting of a red and black color palette. They stood in front of a counter, and behind it was an elderly reptile Faunus.

After a moment of both sides evaluating the enemy, the gang members immediately drove her back outside and fought her in the dark street. Nermina had nearly drawn her blade and, at the request of Amber, had decided not to, and instead used her Sunset Staff as a blunt weapon.

Right off the bat she used an overhead swing on a grunt, taking him out of the fight instantly. Nermina took a hit from a dust bullet and felt her aura drop by around three percent,as it hadn't struck anywhere important. She then targeted the gunman with a dark orb, which shouldn't have killed anyone with the lack of power put into it, but instead of a regular dark orb she somehow ended up casting out a black orb that floated upwards and fired off bone spikes at the conscious grunts like the Soul Shower spell.

Blood splattered on the pavement as only one grunt survived, albeit with spikes sticking out of his left leg and his stomach. Seeing that he hadn't much time left, Nermina began walking towards him as he bled out. Darkness started swarming in her hand as she got closer, the grunt cried out in fear as her hand fell on the side of his face, but then she gently held his face and shushed him.

He felt the warm and comforting dark. It was soothing, he felt the pain of his wounds fade beyond the effects of modern medicine, before long, his will faded as well.

He gave in to the dark.

Nermina let the dark flow into the man, tearing away at his memories and taking them as her own. She remembered the warmth of another, a sister's pride in her brother's accomplishments, the grief of a lone orphan on the streets, the feeling of joining a stronger, larger family, and then fear of a man named Roman Torchwick.

Suddenly, the memories stopped flowing, bringing her back to modern day. The man was now comatose, but will live on to speak about this incident with fear in his heart, not remembering anything before it. Nermina let go of his face, letting it fall to the ground: she then quickly grabbed her sword and redirected an attack from her right side. The memories of the man had told her that there was one final member of the robbing party, sent to watch the group from afar and intervene if things got really bad, their name was Neopolitan. The exact person that just tried to attack her.

Years of cautious wandering and exploration had sharpened Nermina's sense of hearing to the point where it is almost as good as a Faunus's, which is what allowed her to hear the dispelling of an illusion some distance to her right, allowing her to hear Neopolitan's approach. Something felt different, though, it was like she could actually _sense_ Neapolitan coming, like a radar.

Something about her had changed suddenly, but she didn't know what.

Deciding to put it off, she pulled back from Neo and got into a ready stance, while Neo stood holding her umbrella over herself, opened. Neo was the first to attack, running forward and closing her umbrella, a smirk on her face as Nermina ran forward as well and slashed with her blade. Just as the blade an the umbrella collided, Neo shattered into glass-like shards before Nermina was hit from behind by Neo.

Nermina felt immense pain from her back, for some reason her aura hadn't protected her! Blood dripped to the pavement as Neo held her in that position, shocked by this revelation. How could someone like this not have their aura unlocked?

 _"What happened? Amber? Are you there!? Amber!?"_ Nermina questioned in her mind, but there was no reply from her partner. Neo suddenly pulled out her weapon roughly, causing the wound to bleed profusely as Nermina fell to one knee, holding her side as Neo stood in front of her.

Suddenly, the sound of bullhead engines made itself clear as it hovered near them and opened it's passenger door, waiting for Neo to board. The wind from the engines blew Nermina's hood back, revealing her features to anyone looking at her, the bullhead's spotlight also was directed towards them.

Neo's eyes widened significantly as she got a look at her opponent's face, it was rotting as if she were a corpse, and her eyes were pure white! What truly stood out was the fact that there was swirling black mark on her cheek.

When Nermina saw Neo's expression, she turned her head to look at a nearby window, and then realized what was wrong, she had went hollow at some point!

Thinking that this was enough for one day, Neo decided to finish off her opponent by pulling her blade out of her umbrella and point it at her opponent's heart.

"Well," Nermina said in a deep, raspy voice, "I'm beginning to hate this place."

Neo simply responded with a disgusted shake of her head, and then a piercing thrust through Nermina's hexer robes. After that, she quickly pulled the blade out and wiped it with a cloth as Nermina collapsed, she then vanished and reappeared in the open bullhead before it flew off.

Around 15 minutes later, Nermina heard the police approaching and struggled to get up after losing so much blood. She managed to stagger into a nearby alleyway, just as the police arrived, and take a drink from her Estus Flask.

"This place is going downhill if this is how long it takes for the police to react to a threat," Nermina quietly said to herself, a bad habit she picked up to stave off the loneliness of being an undead.

Quickly, she grabbed a human effigy from her travel bag and crushed it against herself, restoring her humanity.

 _"Finally! Do you know how long I've spent trying to contact you!? I've been trying to tell you that something was wrong this entire time!"_ Amber shouted at Nermina as she finally got their connection back.

 _"Well at least we know now that we can't communicate when I'm hollow,"_ Nermina replied calmly, _"But it begs the question, how did become hollow in the first place?"_

 _"That's what I was trying to contact you about! When you cast that hex, you were suddenly being drained of your humanity! Yesterday that other hex you cast had also drained some of it, along with the 'souls' you got from the Grimm, I just didn't realize what the hexes were doing to you until you ravaged that man's mind and leeched some of his humanity without realizing it!"_

Was it true? Had she used a version of the forbidden Dark Hand without meaning to?

Sighing, Nermina got up and used her sunset staff cast a chameleon spell, disguising as a random box, before deciding to take a nap as she waited for the police to leave the area. It was going to be a while before she would be allowed to experiment with her altered hexes.

 **-Linebreak-**

Ozpin finally got up from his desk and stared out the window of his office; he had been sorting through paperwork due to Beacon's first semester starting in a few weeks, most of it was prospective students hoping to register and join the academy.

After a few minutes of taking a break and watching the city of Vale, he randomly received a message from one of his contacts. It held nothing more than a video clip, and a single sentence.

 _"An unknown player?"_ Was the only sentence, to which Ozpin raised an eyebrow, he sat down at his desk and pressed play.

The video was from a street camera, it showed a dust robbery being interrupted by an unknown person killing all the robbers with an unknown attack that produced a black orb that fired bone-like spikes, one of which struck the camera and turned the screen to static.

Normally, Ozpin would pass this as an act of vigilantism from a random huntress/huntsman living in the city, if it weren't for the fact that the orb seemed to be of Grimm-like origins, alongside the bone spikes.

Could this be another servant of Salem, or something entirely new? It doesn't match up with any of the memories of his predecessors.

Just who was this new player?


	7. Chapter 7: The Emerald Wizard

Chapter 7

Nermina sat in a chair, which she figured out how to create, in the void. She was half listening and half blocking out Amber's tirade against her actions last night, which all circled back to, "What would of happened if we had died!?"

Just as Amber finished, Nermina brought out her Estus Flask, bringing Amber's attention to her again. Well, more so to the bottle itself, as it has apparently been slowly refilling during their time in the void.

"Huh, I guess sleep acts as a replacement for the bonfires," Nermina said, her way with words had transformed from the formal speech of her world, to the more casual speech patterns of Remnant, but she still had her accent.

Amber, meanwhile, had decided to also take a seat in a chair that appeared from nowhere, she was much more adept at creating objects in the void.

"How do you think this works?" Amber asked.

"Back in Drangleic, bonfires were so useful because they are somehow able to warp time, essentially speeding up time. I think that our sleeping condition allows us to experience something similar, but we're not guaranteed our safety, unlike with the bonfires," Nermina explained.

"That would explain why we don't experience the full amount of time that we're sleeping, but what would happen if we were to be attacked like this?"

Nermina replied with a shrug, not sure her self, before taking a seat next to Amber, "One thing I've been wondering, what will happen if we get to your body?"

Amber was silent at that, she wasn't sure what she wanted to happen. Sure, she might get her body back, but then what would happen to Nermina? Amber already knew how it felt have a part of her stolen, would it be the same for her partner?

Just as Amber was about to voice her concerns, they were waking up.

The first thing they saw was a man attempting to mug a faunus.

 **Glynda Goodwitch, 3:58 am, 14 days before the school year begins**

Glynda Goodwitch was having a very stressful morning.

First thing in the morning, Ozpin gets a call from the KVPD (Kingdom of Vale Police Department) asking about any huntsman or huntresses that have an amnesia inducing semblance in the Vale area, to which Ozpin replied that he had no record of any. Then, minutes later, he gets a report from one of his contacts about an injured man stumbling out of an alleyway before walking up to a police officer and confessing to the attempted mugging of a fox faunus.

Apparently, the perpetrator didn't remember much of anything except the crime and his name, but he did remember a figure cloaked in black.

The police officer had gone to the alley to check if the confession was true after he had contained the man in his car, and had confirmed to have found a terrified fox faunus, who then told the whole story after being brought to the station for questioning.

That is the reason why Glynda was currently fully dressed in her outfit and inspecting an alleyway at 3:58 am.

Coincidentally, or maybe not, it was only a minute's walk away from a crime scene with a robbed dust store and multiple body bags containing gang members. That one was quite a mess.

Unfortunately, the only sign of anything happening here was a bunch of garbage cans that looked like they were thrown to the side as someone got up.

Just as she was about to give up, Glynda felt a faint gloom, like if you were to be in close proximity with a Grimm. She immediately acted on this feeling out of pure instinct, sending a telekinetic blast down the alleyway, revealing an armored stranger from some sort of illusion that made them appear as a garbage bin.

"Who are you? explain yourself!" Glynda demanded as she held the figure midair with her semblance.

The person merely looked up at her, as if examining a lab experiment, before replying with a surprisingly calm tone, "Glynda Goodwitch, member of the circle, close ally of Headmaster Ozpin, enemy of Salem, ally to the dying Fall Maiden, Amber."

The voice revealed them to be a woman, one who knew far too much about the secret fight for the world than just any random huntress or criminal should, causing Glynda to tighten her grip on her riding crop before pinning them roughly against the wall and grab her scroll to contact Ozpin.

 _"Are you sure that this is a good idea?"_ Amber asked Nermina as they watched Glynda raise her scroll to her ear, to which Nermina responded, _"Do you want to get back to your body quickly, or not?"_

Amber stayed quiet after that, she knew that just walking into Beacon and announcing that she was the Fall Maiden would likely have them detained and questioned longer than if they were to simply let themselves get taken to Ozpin directly to explain their situation.

"I'll be heading back now," they heard Glynda finish, right before she pocketed her scroll and glared at Nermina, "will you explain yourself?"

"I will speak of this matter in Ozpin's office, Miss Goodwitch," Nermina replied, accidentally adding the "Miss" due to Amber's influence.

"Suit yourself," she said before creating glyphs around Nermina's wrists and legs, making them her bindings as she was hovered a few feet off the ground as Glynda brought her to a bullhead from Beacon and stuck her onto a seat with another glyph as they took off.

The flight was uneventful and silent, aside from the engines and small sound of the glyphs being sustained, and it wasn't long before the craft moved downwards and landed with a bump or two before the professor opened the door and pulled the hexer along with her as they moved through the main avenue the empty campus. They passed by a statue depicting a huntsman and a huntress standing triumphant while a Beowulf stood beneath the ledge they were on; to many, it represents the strength of humanity, but Nermina saw it as a show of arrogance, the downfall of many kingdoms.

After a few minutes, they arrived at Beacon Tower, of which the base held the CCT hub and also housed Ozpin's office at the very top. Amber and Nermina steeled themselves for when they reached the headmaster's office during the elevator ride up. When the doors opened, there was an older man, Ozpin, sitting at a desk, some paperwork pushed to the side, which is to be expected. What Nermina didn't expect was another man leaning against a column, one that Amber recognized as Qrow Branwen. They made it inside and Nermina was placed in a chair opposite to Ozpin, the glyphs were removed after that.

After a few moments of silence, Ozpin finally spoke up, "I'm assuming you're aware of who I am, if what Glynda has messaged me is true."

"You are Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy..." Nermina responded, and just as Ozpin was about say something to her, she cut him off, "...the leader of the group protecting the maidens."

The atmosphere immediately became tense as Qrow stood straight, no longer leaning against the column, and Glynda gripped her riding crop harder. "I assume that you would like to know my identity, am I correct?" Nermina asked, Amber was slightly nervous of their current situation, but let Nermina control it.

The headmaster nodded, a slight cautious but otherwise unreadable expression on his face, "Yes , that would be correct."

After a few moments of sifting through Amber's memories, the ones pertaining to Ozpin only, she found something that gave her a slight mischevious smile, "Why, dear wizard," she started, causing Qrow to grip his great sword, "I'm just like you," she finished before closing her eyes.

After this statement, Ozpin raised an eyebrow, the only other sign of his suspicions being his grip on his cane.

 _"You can take over from here, Amber,"_ Nermina thought, right before she felt as if she were pulled backwards and sat down again, she couldn't feel her body after that one moment, though.

To any one not in her mind, they saw her suddenly glow brightly, her white hair becoming brown, her alabaster skin darkening, before suddenly reverting back. This was a very familiar sight to Ozpin, but hehad always been certain the the brothers hadn't created anyone else like him.

Until now.

When Nermina opened her eyes again, they were a golden-brown mix, these eyes felt younger and more familiar than their original appearance.

"Um..." She started as she looked at each person in the room. Qrow was slack jawed, while Glynda seemed to be trying her best to hide her shock. "Hi Professors, and Qrow," the new persona said with a very noticeable lack of a foreign accent, she then proceeded to give a small smile and brush some hair out of her face.

"Please forgive Nermina for being mysterious, she doesn't quite trust all of you... Its me, Amber..."

After she said this, Ozpin stood up and stared at Amber, "This is beyond even a maiden's ability, unless this would be part of some illusion semblance..." He trailed off right then, before suddenly asking a question.

"What is the world's best kept secret?"

At the question, Amber's tone became even, as if she were reciting something out of a book.

"One that not even shadows may grasp, one that not even the keeper knows."

At this response, Qrow and Glynda visibly relaxed,while Ozpin merely smiled and sat down again, leaning his cane against his desk.

"Now, how did this happen? Who was that other persona of yours?" Qrow asked, getting right to the point, "You've got some explaining to do."

Amber motioned for Qrow and Glynda to stand by Ozpin, "You might want to open up your minds a bit for this, I'm not sure how believable this story is..."

 **Cinder Fall, 6:27 pm, 16 days before the school year begins**

Everything was going according to plan, Roman Torchwick was under her thumb, and she had the White Fang following her orders, along with her hungering sensation was telling her that Salem was correct to deduce that the Fall Maiden was somewhere in the city of Vale, but something felt off. While she had gotten used to the burning sensation that came with having only half a maiden's power, she didn't expect it to suddenly drop in its intensity, being replaced by a cold emptiness.

Something had happened. Something out of her control. The maiden didn't die, definitely not, but something about her has changed, as though a darkness has settled in. Cinder could still feel her presence, but it felt like there was something grasping the bond and threatening to tear it apart, but at the same time fill in the cracks.

She didn't like it, but she wouldn't show any weakness, she had an image to keep, after all. Reporting it to Salem will make her look like a coward, someone who can't even handle the though of something going out of control.

Cinder had no such fears, she was confident, she had contingency plans.

After all, she wanted to be strong.

She wants to be feared.


	8. Chapter 8: Awakening

Chapter 8

 **Nermina, 2:38 pm, 10 days before the school year begins**

Usually, an undead's recreational time consisted of contemplating the hand that fate has dealt you, and maybe some daydreaming of times gone by, but this time Nermina had decided to see what the city had to offer. Qrow was with her, of course.

Ozpin had decided to believe Amber's story for the time being, but he obviously still held some suspicions, which was why he had assigned Qrow to go with her. He would have sent Glynda or any other faculty, but they had to prepare for the school year.

 _"We could wait until he's drunk, and slip away,"_ Amber suggested.

"Or we could great him with respect and _not_ do that, " Nermina countered, Qrow looking at her for a moment before looking back to the street.

"You know, it's probably a good idea to not converse out loud like that," Qrow said, sipping from his flask while seated.

They had stopped at a cafe for the time being, Nermina wanting to take a break from taking in the sights of Vale. The one thing that had really caught her eye was the old bell tower she could see near the center of the city. A familiar sight in this urban environment.

"How long has that been in this city for?" She asked Qrow, pointing to it after sipping some tea.

"That old thing? I dunno, the history books only talk about how it possibly precedes Vale itself, it's original builders long forgotten. The founders of Vale supposedly built the city around it. Why do you ask?" Qrow answered, ready to drink some more before Nermina glared at him until he put it down.

"I'm not sure, I guess I just like the look of it," She smoothly lied, memories of a cackling dwarf echoing through her mind, making Amber a bit uncomfortable. "When does it ring?"

"It has never tolled in the history of Vale, and not even Oz remembers it ringing, despite people trying."

"Really? Interesting..." Nermina trailed off before setting her tea down and pulling out a set of binoculars from her old bag. She had changed into more modern clothes, at Qrows recommendation, and had settled for simply a black t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans, keeping the boots from her hexer's garb.

When she based through the binoculars, she could've sworn she felt a deep chill to through her body, her darksign burning against her chest, meanwhile Amber suddenly had to deal with Nermina having a momentary breakdown.

 _"Calm down, stay with me! Come on, think of your disciplinary lessons!"_

"Impossible... that's..." Nermina dropped the binoculars in shock, loud clattering signalling that it had landed on the teacup. A single image was branded into her mind as it registered just what was depicted on the bell itself.

 **"The Darksign."**

A bell's toll suddenly echoed from the tower, catching the attention of everyone in Vale that was familiar with it's silence, shocking them.

 **Eastern Menagerie**

A pair of children, a boy and a girl, we're playing by an isolated bell tower on a mountain that overlooked the desert that separated them from the Faunus they were distantly related to. When it rang, they both jumped up in fright before the boy grabbed his sister's hand.

"Come, sister! We must speak of this to the Ancestral Mother, and she shall tell the king!"

The boy's sister followed without protest and they ran up the mountain until they came to a ledge that faced distant mountains. Rugs had been placed by the edge to provide a resting place. As they sat down in a meditative stance, fluffy, white tails unfurled from around their waists as they suddenly went into a trance as they focused on the peak.

 **Deep below the continent of Solitas**

The cult gathered around, their surroundings glistening as they retracted light from their torches. Each member was a servant for something vile and ancient, and the crystals were the result of centuries of experimentation. The head of this cult was performing a ritual when the bell tools rang through the crystal cavern. In response, many members pulled their goods down, revealing pale blue skin and crystalline growths.

"It is time, we must ascend! We must finally make use of this immortality that we have acquired and light the flame, for our own path towards transcendence! We shall grant The Pale One eyes!"

 **The Unnamed Continent**

"Is it really true? That was really The Bell?"

"Quiet, Tyrian, I have much work to do, Mistress Salem gave a very special job to me to do if the bell were to ever toll."

"Oh my! What ever is it that you must complete for our goddess, Watts?"

"Lets just say that I must check on a certain cinder, to make sure it hasn't burnt any ashes."

"Ooh, splendid! Shall I accompany you to the graves, or shall I check on the Soul?"

"The graves will do."

"Perfect..." Tyrian whispered before cackling at the possible oncoming slaughter.

 **Beacon's Vault**

A single pod was occupied by an empty vessel, formerly known as Amber. Even though her vitals were stable, she held no sign of an aura, and as such, no sign of a soul. Ozpin was currently watching this very pod, contemplating on Amber's predicament, and making sure that it would be safe to perform a transfer it worst came to worst.

As he memorized the sequence needed to perform such a task, the rolling of a bell rang through his very soul, causing him to stand upright, back as straight as an arrow.

It has started.

 **Nermina, Mindscape**

 _"Seek the Great Ones, their souls for the pyre!_

 _The Banished, his beasts spewing fire!_

 _The Obsessed, his prison come undone!_

 _The Crossbreed, her lineage spread under the sun!_

 _The Witch, her spawn born from dark!_

 _And the Forgotten, one who had never left their mark!_

 _Find these lords, their lands forgotten in name,_

 _slay them, so you may seek the Flame!"_

This message had been stuck in her mind ever since that bell had rung.

She couldn't believe it. Remnant and her land were connected, but how?

Could her world have been Remnant the entire time? If that was the case, why is everyone so advanced? What happened to sorceries and miracles? Why is there no mention of gods, or the abyss, or of dragons?

"Their existence could've been locked away and hidden, just like the maidens," Amber suggested.

That might be why. But by who?

"If this is just like where I came from, then we have a many decades at the very least before reality begins to get strange," Nermina said, "Timelines will eventually begin to shift and obscure, beings from both the future and past could make their appearance, as was told by a man whose name was long lost to history."

"And as far as we know, you're the only one who can relight this flame?" Amber asked, worried about what the future may hold.

"It's either that, or wait maybe a century of so for some undead hero to finally make their appearance."

" Oh... " Amber quietly whispered before sitting down and contemplating on what to think, "What are you going to do?"

"... I don't know, my motivation for hunting down the Great Souls was to cure the Undead Curse, but I don't think linking the flame will do that, and thinking about it now, wouldn't this curse have been cured ages ago if that were the case?" Nermina ranted, memories of undead hunts flooding her mind before she managed to calm herself down. "We also still have to find out what is going on with my hexes."

Amber didn't get to respond before they both felt the dragging sensation of waking up.

 **Beacon Academy, Infirmary**

"I really didn't expect you to pass out on me," Qrow said as Nermina opened her eyes, nearly sitting straight up when she didn't recognize the room.

"Relax, I brought you back to Beacon. You're in the infirmary, although there really isn't anything physically wrong with you."

She relaxed and looked around a bit, seeing the clock that said it was 4 o'clock. "Thank you, Qrow."

"No need to thank me, it's part of my job now until I get my next assignment," he replied as he got up to leave, "oh, by the way," he said, stopping in his tracks, "Ozpin wants to see you, whenever you're ready."

 _"Oh boy, did we do something? Wait, maybe it's just about giving us a job to do while we're here."_

"I already have a feeling of what he wants to talk about, Amber."

Hopefully he doesn't pry too much into certain things.


End file.
